1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to an apparatus for conveying and sorting items. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for multiplying the number of lanes of conveyed food items, such as cookies, to allow continuous processing of the food items.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the preparation of food items such as cookies, after the cookies have been baked, they are transferred from an oven to a conveyor belt to be conveyed to a packaging station or other processing apparatus. When the cookies are conveyed from the oven, they are arranged in layers of various numbers. In order to facilitate subsequent operations, such as a packaging operation, it is desired to rearrange the cookies into varying numbers of specified lanes.
However, it is often required to change the number of lanes of food items being conveyed to conform to various downstream processing devices. For example, a downstream processing device may have a serial throughput which is much less than that of the oven or other upstream device and thus the food items must be spread out, i.e., the number of lanes must be increased, in order to allow parallel processing, to avoid accumulation of the items, and allow continuous processing. Various devices have been utilized to multiply lanes. For example, it is known to utilize a mechanical flapper device which selectively diverts items into separate lanes as they are conveyed. Also, it is known to utilize a pneumatic jet to divert items. In either case, the food items must be sensed and precise timing is required for either the mechanical or pneumatic operator. This renders known systems quite complicated.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,881 discloses the use of rotary members constructed of a central hub having a plurality of retractable spokes extending therefrom. Two spokes are in contact with the surface of the conveyor belt at any one time. The distance between the ends of the spokes in contact with the conveyor belt is set to be approximately the same as the diameter of the food items being conveyed. The food items engage the spokes of the rotary members in much the same manner as the teeth of a sprocket gear engage a chain to thus maintain a uniform spacing between food items in each line. This process is known as indexing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conveying and sorting food items, specifically cookies and like shaped items, in which the food items are directed into lanes having uniform distances between the items and subsequently, the number of lanes of the items is changed.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such an apparatus in which the lane multiplying process is carried out without damage to the food items.